EHealth says online brokers can help ease pain of HealthCare.gov

By Russ Britt

Since the Obama administration’s headaches over HealthCare.gov began a month ago, the fortunes of eHealth Inc. have been soaring.

Shares have climbed nearly a third, going from $32.26 at the end of September to close out October at $42.62, a gain of more than 32%. The reason: eHealth is one of several online health-insurance brokers contracted by the federal government to help process applications and dole out subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.

Chief Executive Gary Lauer says his web site could be useful — not to mention process applicants a lot faster — were it not for some issues in connecting with HealthCare.gov’s data hub. He’s also pushing for some states that are running their own health exchanges to use his site to help get the application process going.

“In some states we actually guarantee revenue,” he said, adding some states get 3% of premiums for policies sold by eHealth.

If he could, Lauer says he would be able to help find policies for the so-called invincibles, the 20-somethings and 30-somethings needed to help spread out the insurance risk and keep premiums down.

“They don’t want to use call centers,” he said. “We’re 100% online.”

Lauer points out that those ineligible for subsidies can complete the process on his site and that of other online brokers without going through HealthCare.gov, all the same policies for the same prices. Other brokers such as GetInsured.com are beginning to crop up. But eHealth is the largest and most visible of the online brokers.

Story Conversation

About Health Exchange

Health Exchange guides investors to the crucial market intelligence they need to keep up with the health care industry, which makes up one-sixth of the U.S. economy. Anchored by Russ Britt, Health Exchange is the essential site for those looking for the most important news, data and analysis on the sector. You can reach Russ at Rbritt@marketwatch.com.